Amongst the recent talk of crisis at Bayern Munich, Sadio Mané came up more than most as a player suffering a dip in form. The speed of his adaptation to the Bayern team was questioned, but in against both Bayer Leverkusen and Viktoria Plzeň the Senegalese striker has shown sign that he is ready to rock and roll at the Rekordmeister.
A Man-of-the-Match performance in the Champions League against Czech minnows Plzeň with a superb goal came hot on the heels of another fine display at the weekend and previous talk of a form crisis now seems crazy.
At the time, Bayern were quick to defend the player insisting that all that was needed was time to settle in. After a poor showing against Barcelona in the Champions League coach Julian Nagelsmann was quick to reassure the player and fans.
“’He’s a new signing. He just needs to adapt” the FCB coach explained. “He was trying. I’m certain he will succeed for us. He played a new position today, which of course he didn’t play so much last year at Liverpool, but the years before that. It’s quite normal as a newcomer who of course still has to adapt to certain procedures that are a bit different to those at Liverpool.”
Mané himself has admitted to initial difficulties since his €32 million move from Liverpool. “Switching from one club to another is not easy. I spent eight very nice years in England, six years at Liverpool and two at Southampton. Now I am in a new country.
“It is not easy because everything changes so suddenly: people, training, everything. Everything is changing so it is not easy at all. I need to adapt. I knew that and it came as no surprise.”
However, a confidence-boosting goal against Bayer Leverkusen and a superb finish against Plzeň look to have the 30-year-old very much back on track and ready to replicate his Liverpool form in the Bundesliga for Bayern.
Here is Mane’s goal #ChampionsLeague #FCBPLZ pic.twitter.com/1vOOTQynYv
— All Daily Updates (@AllDailyUpdates) October 4, 2022
Speaking after the Champions League win on Tuesday Mané said, “It was a superb team performance from start to finish. We created a lot of chances and scored five goals. There’s no doubt it was a deserved win. We had a tough few weeks, but we’ve started well after the international break. We hope it continues until the end of the season.”
Next up for Mané and Bayern is the Klassiker against Borussia Dortmund and the chance for the Mané party to get into full swing.
